


Honey Jars

by snowtamale



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Arranged Marriage, Bad Parenting, F/F, Marriage
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-19
Updated: 2018-10-09
Packaged: 2019-07-14 05:44:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16034186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowtamale/pseuds/snowtamale
Summary: She and Aubrey have met three times and each of those three times, Stacie has come away irritated. Saying that Aubrey wasn’t nice would be an understatement. She knows that getting married is the last thing Aubrey wants to do. Stacie isn’t exactly excited by the prospect of marrying Aubrey either, but Stacie learned long ago to choose her battles with her parents carefully.“Look, I’m not happy about this,” Stacie gestures between them, “set up either.”Aubrey scoffs and folds her arms tightly against her chest. Stacie bristles at the response,“You think I want to marry a tightwad like you?”Aubrey stands to get eye to eye with Stacie and snaps back, “better than marrying someone everyone has already gotten a piece of.”OrStacie and Aubrey are set to get married. They're not happy about the marriage or each other.





	1. Prologue

“Anastasia,” her dad’s voice floats down the hall.

Stacie begins shoving some of the mess spread around her room into her closet. She was supposed to be clearing out a few things from her room so that their housekeeper could finally clean her floors. And instead, Stacie kind of got sidetracked by a thought...which somehow turned into Stacie spending two hours creating a proof of concept for an offhand idea. 

“Yeah dad?”

“Are you ready to go?”

Shit. She should’ve checked her calendar. Since she’s been home from California, her life has been filled with work and family events which always end up leading back to work. It’s not even the fun kind of work in a lab that Stacie likes. It’s the stuffy corporate nonsense, her father and grandfather are determined to make _her thing_.

“Go where.”

“The Posens,” her dad responds poking his head through her bedroom door, “that’s what the dress is for.”

“Do I have to go dad?” Stacie whines, trying her best to really put on the puppy eyes and maybe even shed a tear or two. 

Her dad just glances at her face and raises an eyebrow. Stacie drops the face and her dad continues, “as one half of the soon-to-be engaged couple, your attendance is required. Yes.”

“I had plans,” Stacie tries, turning back to her desk and not even bothering to pretend she’s cleaning her room. 

Her dad lets out a strangled breath of frustration, “and this has been on your calendar for months.”

“I’ve already agreed to marry her,” Stacie retorts petulantly. “Why do we have to go through all of the pomp and circumstance?”

“I let you go off to California for five years already,” her dad reminds her, eying the various piles of junk that litter her room. “We had a deal Anastasia. And Conrads-“

“Always honor their end of a deal. Blah blah,” Stacie finishes, barely containing her annoyance. 

Her dad just shakes his head in exasperation, “you could take this more seriously. It’s not just your future at stake. It’s the future of this family, of the company.”

Stacie turns to begin changing and so that her dad can’t see her roll her eyes. She hears the click of his dress shoes fade down the hall as she pulls the new dress on. Stacie slumps onto her bed, staring at the ceiling to stall for as long as she dares. It isn’t until she hears her dad’s voice booming from the other side of the penthouse that she sits up and actually gets ready to go over to the Posens. 

——

The Posens only live a few blocks away but ridiculously, her dad refuses to let them walk the five blocks. Instead, they’re shuttled into the town car and two minutes later out of the town car and into the Posens building. 

The elevator up to the Posens penthouse is dead silent. Her dad absentmindedly tugs at his collar and her mom shoots her what is supposed to be an encouraging smile. Stacie feels her stomach fill with dread instead. 

All other things aside, the Posens have mastered the art of looking good. From their immaculately decorated (and somehow always spotless) penthouse, to their perfectly dressed family, they know how to make anyone feel inferior. Their three daughters exude class and poise in public.

Today, it’s just the Posens with their eldest daughter Aubrey to greet the Conrads and Stacie. They all shake hands, kiss cheeks, and exchange empty pleasantries before Stacie and Aubrey are led to the study and left alone.

“I don’t need you,” Aubrey spits as soon as the study door thunks shut. 

“You’ve made that clear from the beginning Aubrey,” Stacie sighs, running a hand through her hair. 

She wonders how she is the one who gets stuck with… this. Her three older brothers are happily married off to spouses chosen by their parents. But of course Stacie gets Aubrey.

By all accounts, Aubrey is the most driven and perhaps the only Posen sister with the smarts to run the company. She went to Yale Law instead of her mother’s alma mater, Harvard. She was one of the youngest 

Stacie has also heard the less savory gossip. She knows that Aubrey, the eldest, is also the least friendly of the three Posen sisters. She’s heard the stories of Aubrey’s first engagement which ended in a very public argument and projectile vomiting incident. Since then, Aubrey has been passed over time and time again when it came time for a suitor to marry a Posen sister.

She and Aubrey have met three times and each of those three times, Stacie has come away irritated. Saying that Aubrey wasn’t nice would be an understatement. She knows that getting married is the last thing Aubrey wants to do. Stacie isn’t exactly excited by the prospect of marrying Aubrey either, but the Stacie learned long ago to choose her battles with her parents carefully. 

“Look, I’m not happy about this,” Stacie gestures between them, “set up either.”

Aubrey scoffs and folds her arms tightly against her chest. Stacie bristles at the response,

“You think I want to marry a tightwad like you?”

Aubrey stands to get eye to eye with Stacie and snaps back, “better than marrying someone everyone has already gotten a piece of.”

Aubrey steps forward, but Stacie doesn’t step backwards, bringing them nearly nose to nose.

“Oh. So I’m a slut.”

“If the shoe fits…”

“Fuck you Aubrey,” Stacie spits, her voice low and sharp. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“So you haven’t slept with half your Cotillion class?” Aubrey asks, lifting an eyebrow in disbelief and almost leaning closer _towards_ Stacie.

“You should know better than to believe everything you hear,” Stacie replies and before she can stop herself, “Pukeson.”

Aubrey’s cheeks flush bright red and she recoils at the nickname, “Fuck off Stacie.”

“Gladly.”

Stacie shoves past Aubrey and through the door of the study. Neither of their parents are anywhere to be found so Stacie makes her way out to the Posen’s balcony. The summer air is stiflingly humid. Breathing in the taxi exhaust filled air doesn’t make Stacie feel any less trapped. The only saving grace is the view of the Central Park’s sprawl in front of her. 

It helps take her mind off the fact that she has a whole lifetime with Aubrey ahead of her. Like it or not, they’ll be married within two years or cut off from their families. As much as Stacie doesn’t enjoy Aubrey’s company, things could be worse. She could have wound up with someone who was actively out to hurt or exploit her. Aubrey just dislikes her. 

It’s not the most comforting or uplifting thought, but it’s about the only shred of positivity Stacie can find. She misses California. She misses the truly fresh air that came off the ocean. Being across the country from her parents and their expectations had afforded her a taste of what freedom felt like. 

Admittedly, Stacie hasn’t really helped matters where Aubrey is concerned. She’s always been good at giving as good as she gets. But she can’t figure out what she did to piss Aubrey off in the first place. Aubrey doesn’t seem the type to randomly hate someone, and since the beginning, Aubrey has never had anything nice to say to her. 

The balcony door clicks and Stacie freezes until her mom’s perfume wafts through the air. 

“Did you girls get into again?”

“Hey mom.”

Her mom drapes an arm around her shoulders, “you know you’re going to have to make it work sooner or later. And the sooner, the easier the rest of your life will be.”

“I know mom,” Stacie breathes out, curling into her mom’s embrace. “She never gives me a chance.”

“Well honey-“

“I know, I know. I can give her a chance first,” Stacie mumbles, burying her face into her mom’s shoulder. “She just gets under my skin.”

Stacie feels her mom tighten their embrace, “You’re a charming girl when you want to be Stace.”

“She can’t be charmed mom,” Stacie protests, pulling back to look her mom in the eye. 

“Well, try, sweetheart,” her mom responds. “As much as I want this marriage to happen, if it will make you miserable, I can talk to your father.”

“It’s okay mom,” Stacie reassures her. 

From the outside in, her parents’ marriage looks idyllic. They’ve raised four kids who have all gone to college. They get along just fine. Her father is comfortable in his place as the stern, company man, ready to lead his company and his children into a successful future. Her mother slouches into the dutiful wife and caring mother role. 

But from the inside, there are cracks.

For one thing, Stacie can’t remember a time when her parents slept in the same room. Her mom has always had her own bedroom. It never struck Stacie as weird until she went on her first sleepover and realized that other people’s parents shared a room.

For another, outside of conversations about them (the kids), her parents never seemed to talk to each other. Her mom would take care of them in the mornings, packing their lunches, making sure they ate breakfast, and dropping them off in time for the first bell. Her dad picked them up from school, fed them dinner, and kind of tried to get them to do their homework. 

They never had dinner as an entire family at home, unless they were hosting a dinner party. 

Family vacations were really just the times her dad’s travel schedule lined up with the breaks on their school schedule.

Stacie does not want her future marriage to be anything like her parents’ marriage. She dreads returning home to the silent gulf between her parents every night. She hates the way her parents use her to talk to each other even though they live in the same house and work at the same company. 

“Are you happy with dad?”

“Your father and I-“ Stacie’s mom pauses, trying to find the right words, “we make it work.”

“But are you happy?” Stacie presses again because she has to know that in spite of the separate rooms and coldness her parents have found some silver lining, some thread of personal happiness.

“Is that all that matters?” Her mother deflects, moving to her own space along the railing of the balcony.

“I think it’s the only thing that should,” Stacie admits softly. She’s never been hugely romantic, she’s known since a young age her marriage would be arranged, but she’s always hoped for the chance at romance.

“There are some things-“ her mother heaves a deep sigh, “Love isn’t always enough Anastasia. Love doesn’t mean automatic happiness.”

“I know that mom. I asked if you were happy.”

Her mom doesn’t say anything for a long while. Stacie worries that she’s overstepped the tentative boundary of their mother/daughter relationship. Just as Stacie has begun to think of an apology, her mom speaks,

“I’m as happy as I can be.”

Stacie isn’t sure what to say or how to respond and the words hang in the humid air. Stacie watches her mom for a moment, but her mom keeps her gaze trained on the view of the park. She gives her mom a kiss on the cheek before turning back to the balcony door. With a sigh of resignation, Stacie slides the balcony door open and returns to the study. The heavy wooden door that splits the hallway from the study is still ajar from Stacie’s hasty exit.

It takes two tugs for Stacie to open the door far enough that she can slip back inside. Aubrey hasn’t moved much since Stacie left. She’s back to sitting in the armchair by the door, reading (or pretending to read) the same long-titled esoteric nonsense she was “reading” when Stacie first came in.

Aubrey doesn’t even turn her head at Stacie’s presence and it’s all Stacie can do to stifle an exasperated sigh.

“Are you going to talk to me?” Stacie asks, trying her hardest to keep the bite out of her voice. 

“What do we have to talk about Stacie?” Aubrey retorts in that fake nice voice Stacie _hates_.

“We’re getting married whether we like it or not.”

“I’m aware. Trust me.”

“Look Aubrey, we don’t have to like each other but this will be easier for both of us if we get along.” Stacie says, her voice softening, “at least tolerate each other.”

Aubrey finally looks up and meets Stacie’s eyes, “You can’t call me Pukeson.”

“Fine. You can’t call me slutty.”

“Fine.”

Aubrey sticks her hand out and Stacie wants to laugh at the formality but their peace is tentative so she takes the offered hand and shakes.


	2. Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Their noses are touching and Stacie whispers into the small space between them, “Aubrey-”_  
>   
> 
> _Aubrey surges forward and presses her lips to Stacie’s. Stacie slips her hand out of Aubrey’s and cradles Aubrey’s face. Stacie’s thumb grazes the line of Aubrey’s jaw. Aubrey expects Stacie to take charge, to show off “the Hunter”, but Stacie doesn’t push forward, doesn’t kiss harder, she just holds Aubrey steady._  
> 

Sometimes, Aubrey is jealous of Chloe.

While the Posens and Conrads are both from old money crowds that take their societal status far to seriously, the Beales are new money. It means that Chloe has always been free to date and marry whoever she wants. The Beales didn’t even bat an eye when Chloe wound up spending seven years getting two Bachelor's degrees (one in music performance and the other in Russian literature). If Aubrey had ever dared major in anything without a clear career path, her parents would have disowned her on the spot. 

Seeing Chloe get dropped off by her normal, middle class, short girlfriend makes Aubrey a little sad. They kiss and Chloe’s girlfriend doesn’t seem to want to let her go. Meanwhile, she and Stacie can barely tolerate each other, much less have a conversation that doesn’t devolve into hurtful insults and petty name calling. 

“Earth to Aubrey?” Chloe says, waving her hands in front of Aubrey’s face. 

“Sorry.”

“Where’d you go there?”

Aubrey shrugs because talking to Chloe about this stuff is hard. Chloe can’t imagine having parents who don’t love her unconditionally and Aubrey doesn’t even know where to start explaining her complicated relationship with her parents. 

“Beca and I set a date.”

Aubrey manages a genuine smile at that. Despite her reservations about Chloe’s finance, Beca has always treated Chloe well. 

“When?” 

“August 15th.”

“Of this year?”

“Yep!”

“Chloe, that’s less than a month away!”

“We know. We’re just going to do the city hall thing and then have a reception at my parents Hamptons house.”

“City hall?”

“We don’t want all the fuss,” Chloe replies, “it just isn’t us. You’re still going to be my maid of honor right?”

“Yes. Of course,” Aubrey nods. “Your parents are really okay with you getting married at City Hall?”

“They just want me to be happy Bree.”

Aubrey stares at her drink trying to imagine what she would be like if that was all her parents wanted. For one, she probably wouldn’t have the whole puking problem. For another, she probably wouldn’t be engaged to Stacie. 

“How are things with Stacie?”

“Tense would be an understatement,” Aubrey admits.

Chloe ducks to make eye contact with Aubrey, “You should really give her a chance Bree.”

“I want to. But every time we get in a room together-” Aubrey throw her hands up in the air, “we’re barely civil to each other.”

“What’s the real issue with you two?” 

“What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Chloe chooses her words carefully, “your personalities are very different. But you and I are very different and we get along just fine. So…”

“She slept with half of her Cotillion class,” Aubrey interrupts, contempt lacing every word. 

Chloe frowns, “She didn’t and I didn’t realize you were a slut shamer.”

“I’m not a slut shamer,” Aubrey quickly defends. Chloe just raises her eyebrows and gives Aubrey a harder stare.

Aubrey exhales and admits, “Fine. It was gross and misogynistic of me to bring up the Cotillion thing. I just hate the way she flaunts her _assets_.”

“Her assets? Really Bree? They’re boobs.” Chloe says, barely containing her laugh, “you’re a woman who likes women, how can you not say the word boobs?”

Aubrey grumbles at her and Chloe actually laughs at that. When Chloe’s laughter has finally died down, she changes gears and gets serious on Aubrey. 

“She’s going to be your wife Bree.”

“I know, Chlo.”

“If you can’t respect her-”

“Respect isn’t the problem.”

“What is it then?”

Aubrey doesn’t answer. She knows Chloe is right. She knows that she needs to work on seeing Stacie as more than her reputation. 

——

Stacie isn’t often uncomfortable in social situations. She’s a huge flirt whose looks allow her nerdy side to go pretty much unnoticed. But sharing a town car with Aubrey makes Stacie feel all sorts of...uneasy. There’s a tension between them that feels like it could snap at any moment.

The only reason Aubrey and Stacie are even sharing a car is that their parents all but shoved them into a town car together without telling them exactly where their engagement party is going to be. While things have been better between the two of them, they’re polite bordering on cold. 

“I’m too sober for this,” Stacie mutters under her breath. 

Aubrey rolls her eyes, “you’re telling me.”

“Well at least we can agree on _something_.”

Aubrey doesn’t reply and Stacie counts it as a win. Since their truce, they’ve been spending most of their time together not speaking to each other. Silence is marginally better than spitting vitriol at each other, particularly when they’re supposed to be a happily engaged couple celebrating their impending marriage. 

Stacie has never been able to figure out why Aubrey is still so hard to read and unfriendly to her. She understood it when they were growing up, their social circle was, still is, cutthroat. Everyone is vying for their parents’ attention and their peers admiration. But Aubrey is easily the most successful one from their generation of progeny. Stacie always thought that Aubrey would flaunt her success or gloat more, but Aubrey seems to isolate herself from everyone in their circle. 

Even when they were growing up, before all of Aubrey’s adulthood success, Stacie had a lot of admiration for Aubrey. If anything, they should have wound up as allies, navigating the respective paths their parents laid out for them. 

Both she and Aubrey were the children who’d inherited their parents’ smarts along with their fortunes. 

They both went against their parents wishes to attain their education _their_ way. Aubrey chose Yale over Harvard to her step-mother’s chagrin. Stacie got her PhD far from home, in California.

They’d both experienced humiliating events that happened in the relative public eye of their social circle. 

They _should_ be friendly. 

But they’re not. And Stacie cannot figure out what she’s done to offend Aubrey.

“I miss the winters in California,” Stacie muses to herself as she glances at the sleet pounding on the car window. 

“You were in California?”

Stacie nods and when Aubrey doesn’t say anything else Stacie takes the chance to elaborate, “for five years.”

“Your parents let you stay in California for five years?”

“I was getting my PhD. They encouraged me to go.”

Encourage is a strong word for the way her parents supported her. Her mom definitely encouraged. Her dad allowed it without protest.

“You have a PhD?”

“Yeah. In chemistry, well really in fluorescence resonant energy transfer.” At Aubrey’s blank look, Stacie continues, “you know for biosensors?”

“You’re smart,” Aubrey says, after a beat stunning both herself and Stacie with the words. 

Stacie just shrugs. Getting her doctorate had been more about stubbornness and curiosity than intelligence, though her smarts had gotten her the opportunity in the first place. Aubrey hasn’t stopped staring at her, almost affectionately and Stacie finds herself awkwardly smoothing over the creases in her skirt repeatedly until Aubrey finally looks back at her phone.

“You’re one to talk. Yale Law.”

Aubrey flushes and she looks almost bashful. 

For the first time, they share a smile and the atmosphere feels almost friendly. They ride in silence for a little while. But the silence feels less tense now. Every so often when they accidentally catch each other’s eye they share a smile. 

It isn’t until they’re a few blocks from the venue that Aubrey breaks the comfortable familiarity they’ve found.

“We should talk about rules for,” Aubrey pauses and briefly meets Stacie’s eyes, “public affection.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t mount you in front of all our friends and family.”

Aubrey’s eyes widen, “I said public affection not exhibtionism.“

“It’s a joke.”

Stacie’s sharp tone sets Aubrey on edge and Aubrey crosses her arms over her chest. She can’t help but fuel the fire.

“You know usually people inflect when they’re joking.”

Stacie leans away from her and rolls her eyes. 

“You really want to give me a linguistics lesson right now?”

“No. But I am trying to take our ‘relationship’ seriously.”

“Because I’m taking a casual approach?”

“Have you ever taken anything seriously in your life?”

“Are you really asking me that? What makes you think I’m taking any of this casually?”

“Because you’re-” Aubrey groans in frustration, trying to come up with some polite version of the words that she wants to say.

“Slutty Stacie,” Stacie finishes for her, fire gone from her voice, dejection clear in her slumped shoulders. She won’t meet Aubrey’s gaze. “Yeah. I know.”

“That’s not what I was going to say,” Aubrey finally says, a second too late.

Stacie shakes her head, still avoiding Aubrey’s eyes.

“Sure.”

“Stacie-“ 

Aubrey starts, desperate to get back to the easy banter about their degrees. But Stacie cuts her off,

“You can hold my hand, hug me, kiss me. Did I miss anything?” 

“Uh. No.” Aubrey responds, trailing off when she realizes the car is already empty. She leans forward to thank their driver before following Stacie up the steps. When she gets to the front door, Stacie is there waiting at the door for her.

“Ready?”

Stacie doesn’t answer but she slips her hand into Aubrey’s and leads them both through the double doors and into their engagement party.

——

“You and Stacie seem to be getting along better these days.”

“We are.”

“That’s good. Marriage is easier that way.”

Her father sips his whiskey and turns his attention towards the guests walking by. 

He’s never really known how to talk to her. When she was much younger, his visits were limited to weekends and holidays. So their relationship was mostly based around the cool toys he’d buy her. There were a few Christmases Aubrey remembers at her old house before the day her mom dropped her off with her dad and never came back. 

The general clears his throat and Aubrey tenses in preparation for more awkward talk about her impending marriage.

“How is work?”

Aubrey exhales in relief. Work is a relatively safe topic. 

“I won my pro-bono case last week.”

Her dad grunts in lieu of a congratulations. Aubrey resists the urge to let out an audible sigh. Never once has her father celebrated anything with her or for her. He’s never congratulated her, never tells her he is proud of her, and instead concentrates on the ways that she isn’t measuring up.

“Have you given any more thought to getting involved with one of the family businesses?”

Of course her dad brings it right back to the ‘family business’. Aubrey could be the youngest partner at any law firm every and her father would still find a way to ask her if she’s decided to change careers and work for the family business. 

Aubrey wants to say so much. 

She wants to tell her father that she chose law school over business school because business school would have been easier and she wanted the challenge. She wants to tell her father that she chose Yale over Harvard not to spite her step-mother but to prove that she could get into a top program without the help of her parents. She became a senior associate to prove that she could be at the top of an industry that isn’t controlled by her parents.

She’s exceeded all of his expectations at this point. 

Aubrey wants to say all of that, but she knows, deep down, the words _I’m proud of you Aubrey_ will never leave her father’s lips. So Aubrey goes for the cheap shot.

“Isn’t that what you have Marjorie and Lindsey for?”

The general takes an actual step away from her with those words. Aubrey takes that moment to brush past him. She rushes through the crowd of her engagement party with no destination in mind, pushing past people, until hand grabs her elbow and tugs her through the door that leads back out to the hallway. 

“It’s just me,” Stacie yelps when Aubrey breaks the hold on her elbow and bends Stacie’s wrist in an unnatural way.

“You shouldn’t just grab people like that.”

“I know that now.”

Aubrey releases Stacie’s wrist. Stacie shakes it out with a grimace as Aubrey looks up and down the empty hallway. 

“What are we doing out in the hall?”

“You looked like you could use a break.”

Aubrey has no idea how to respond. She’s not sure if she’s more surprised that Stacie noticed or that Stacie actively tried to help her. She watches Stacie pretend to be interested in a flyer on the side of the wall. Stacie looks tense, ready to move and Aubrey realizes that Stacie is readying herself for Aubrey to snap at her.

“Thanks.”

“Sure,” Stacie says with a quick glance and small smile.

Aubrey opens her mouth but before any words can come out, two guests stumble through the door and into their hallway.

“Oh,” the first man stumbles backwards when he sees Aubrey and Stacie, “Sorry. We didn’t realize you two snuck out here.”

“We’ll let you get back to it,” the other man says with an eyebrow waggle.

The first man pushes the eyebrow wiggle man through the door and back into the party. Both Aubrey and Stacie stare at the closing door until it thunks shut. Aubrey turns her attention to Stacie who is still staring at the door. 

“I’m sorry I said that you weren’t taking this seriously.”

“This is happening to both of us.”

“Yeah,” Aubrey sighs, “it’s easy to forget that.”

Stacie nods and they lapse into a comfortable silence. They listen to the muffled sounds of the party for a few minutes. 

“I guess we should return to our party,” Aubrey adjusts her dress and inhales deeply.

“Ready?” Stacie asks with her hand on the door.

Aubrey nods. Stacie pushes the door open and Aubrey barely has time to grab her hand before they’re faced with all of their friends and family watching them as they re-enter their party. Stacie’s fingers brush over Aubrey’s hand gently as she switches the grip of their hands so that her fingers are laced between Aubrey’s. 

It feels intimate, almost too intimate. But before Aubrey can escape, someone starts tapping their spoon to their champagne glass. All of their guests begin to join in. Stacie turns to look back at Aubrey. 

Stacie tries waving off the crowd, “this isn’t our wedding.”

“Come on. Kiss her!”

Stacie tugs on their joined hands as Aubrey takes a step forward so that she is in Stacie’s space. 

Their noses are touching and Stacie whispers into the small space between them, “Aubrey-”

Aubrey surges forward and presses her lips to Stacie’s. Stacie slips her hand out of Aubrey’s and cradles Aubrey’s face. Stacie’s thumb grazes the line of Aubrey’s jaw. Aubrey expects Stacie to take charge, to show off “the Hunter”, but Stacie doesn’t push forward, doesn’t kiss harder, she just holds Aubrey steady.

So Aubrey steps closer, pressing their bodies together so that she can deepen their kiss. 

Their hips collide and Stacie can’t help but groan lowly. The groan snaps Aubrey back to reality. Almost as though a mute button has been switched off, as soon as she pulls away, she’s aware of the teasing cheers from their friends and family. Stacie is flushed pink and smiling slightly at Aubrey.

Their guests turn back to their own conversations leaving Stacie and Aubrey in their own bubble. Aubrey takes a step back so that they’ve both got personal space again. The moment she opens her mouth to say something, all four of their parents walk up to them.

Stacie looks from their parents to Aubrey in question but Aubrey just shrugs at her. She has no clue why their parents are coming over.

“We wanted to give you your engagement present when you were together.”

Aubrey looks at all four of their parents, but none of them are carrying anything that resemble a gift. Stacie’s dad, reaches into his suit’s inner pocket and pulls out an envelope. He carefully opens the envelope and tips it so that the contents fall into his hand. 

Twin keys. 

Twin keys lie in the palm of Mr. Conrad’s hand and Aubrey can already feel the bile rising and the wave of panic coming. Her panic isn’t helped when she feels Stacie stiffen next to her. Mr. Conrad holds out his hand to Stacie and Aubrey. 

Stacie is the first to move to take a key. She hesitates just before she picks it up and glances at Aubrey. Aubrey grabs the other and holds it tightly. The notches dig into the palm of her hand. All four of their parents are smiling at them, expectantly and it isn’t until Stacie nudges her that Aubrey remembers her manners and begins to thank their parents. 

Aubrey is barely aware of the rest of the party. She exchanges appropriate pleasantries and allows herself to be dragged around to greet all the important guests but the key feels hot in her hand. She allows Stacie to lead her out of the building and down into their waiting town car.

 _Their_ town car which would be going to _their_ apartment.

Aubrey can’t concentrate on anything but the thought that her parents are basically forcing her to live with Stacie. She’s already come to terms with the idea that she and Stacie will be married. But Aubrey has not come to terms with the fact that Stacie is an amazing kisser. 

Aubrey can’t stop running the kiss through her mind.

The soft touch of Stacie’s hand along her jaw. 

The heat of Stacie’s body against hers. 

The rasp of Stacie’s groan. 

It was hot and dirty and despite herself, Aubrey just wants _more_. She hates that she _wants_ Stacie ‘the Hunter’ Conrad. She hates that her heart speeds up when Stacie kisses her cheek at the end of the night while they say goodnight to their guests. She hates the way her hands go clammy when Stacie laces their fingers together. She feels hyper aware of every single touch they share. 

“I can’t believe our parents conspired behind our backs,” Aubrey says staring straight ahead at the partition in the town car resisting the temptation to look over and see how Stacie is feeling about the whole thing. 

“Well, you can’t exactly blame them. We’ve never gotten along and we’re supposed to be happily engaged.”

“And their solution is to force us to live together.”

“Trial by fire.”

Aubrey finally looks over at Stacie who is relaxed, watching the street go past them. She turns and gives Aubrey a small smile.

“You’re taking this well.”

“We were going to have to figure out how to get along sooner or later.” 

Stacie turns and meets Aubrey’s gaze. There’s a gleam of something in her eye and Aubrey swallows hard. She isn’t really aware that she’s begun to lean forward. Suddenly, she and Stacie are nearly nose to nose. Stacie is looking at her, unsure. 

“Aubrey?”

The waver in Stacie’s voice snaps Aubrey back to reality. The reality where she isn’t Stacie’s biggest fan. The reality where Aubrey refuses to be another notch on Stacie’s bedpost. Aubrey is leaning back in an instant. There’s a flicker of something in Stacie’s eyes. Before Aubrey can begin to decipher the look on her face, Stacie has turned towards the window again. 

——

Stacie doesn’t see much of Aubrey for the next week. They talk just enough to choose their own rooms before Stacie essentially holes herself up in the room she’s claimed as her own. 

She doesn’t know how to face Aubrey. 

She didn’t mean to sound so _vulnerable_ when she’d whispered Aubrey’s name. She’s never had anyone actually pull away from her. The feeling of rejection is new and it stings. 

Stacie deals with it by interacting with Aubrey as little as possible. She uses the common areas of their apartment at weird hours and stays at work way too long.

Her tactic is working perfectly fine when Stacie gets a call from her father’s right hand man to alert her that she’ll be getting a promotion. Stacie dreads this promotion because she’s sure that her father will move her even further from the lab Stacie prefers to work in. 

He’s determined that she should be executive material, but all Stacie wants to do is play around in the lab and innovate. But Stacie knows that the fast track to executive is the price for her brief time in California. She was only _allowed_ California because she promised to return to the family business.

She’s barely able to motivate herself to get out of bed (later than usual), but she finally does just in time to run into Aubrey in the kitchen. Aubrey takes in Stacie’s outfit with wide eyes, before realizing she’s staring. Aubrey avoids looking at Stacie again by staring hard into her mug of coffee as though it has the answers. 

Stacie pours some of the coffee into her travel mug silently. She moves around Aubrey in the kitchen to grab some fruit for her breakfast on the go. 

“Have a good day,” Aubrey throws at Stacie’s back as Stacie leaves the apartment.

“You too,” Stacie mutters after the door has closed.

——

“CTO.”

Stacie shakes her head in disbelief. 

“Really dad?”

“What? What’s wrong with being the CTO? I thought you like innovation and research,” her father barely looks up from his desk.

“I like doing the research dad. I like being in the lab.”

At that her father looks up and levels her with a stern stare, “Conrads are leaders Stacie, not lab rats.”

It’s already been a long day of meetings and paperwork. Stacie has no more fight left in her. She signs the promotion paperwork and hands it back to her father.

“It’s good to have you on board Anastasia.”

Stacie forces a tight smile and stiffly hugs her dad back when he wraps his arms around her.

It’s almost a relief to get back “home”. Stacie slumps onto the couch in the living room. She doesn’t turn the lights on, instead choosing to stew in the darkness. Stacie isn’t sure how long she sits there before the lock clicks and Aubrey is coming through the front door. Aubrey flips the lights on and yelps when she sees Stacie slouching on the couch. 

Stacie doesn’t expect Aubrey to acknowledge her in any way after a week of silence and keeps her eyes trained on the ottoman in front of her.

“Why were you sitting in the dark?”

Stacie shrugs.

“Stacie?”

Aubrey comes closer. Stacie doesn’t move, doesn’t give her any signal that coming closer is the right thing to do and Aubrey cautiously sits on the ottoman that has Stacie’s attention.

“Stacie?”

“What Aubrey?”

“So you do talk.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Aubrey throws her hands up in the air, “I don’t know Stacie. You’ve been a ghost this whole week. We haven’t even exchanged so much as a greeting. I thought we were getting somewhere.”

The dejection in Aubrey’s voice forces Stacie to look up at Aubrey.

“I’m sorry I’ve been avoiding you.”

“What’d I do?”

Stacie shrugs.

“Nothing.” 

“Why were you avoiding me?”

Aubrey tries again. Stacie tenses and she has to look away to get the words out.

“You pulled away.”

“What?”

“In the car. After I said your name.”

“That’s what this is about?”

Stacie is still looking away but she nods.

“Stacie-”

Stacie shakes her head and waves off Aubrey’s explanation, “Don’t worry about it Aubrey. You don’t have to give a speech to spare my feelings or anything.”

“I think it would be less complicated if we tried to be just friends.”

“Yeah.”

Stacie knows she’s got a less than desirable reputation after all the Cotillion stuff went down. It was all based on a bunch of rumors and a single lie Stacie told. Stacie had allowed a ‘friend’ to claim that he had deflowered her. The lie spun out of control and without ever actually having sex with anyone at all, Stacie suddenly had a reputation of having sex with everyone. 

She was just a teenager who didn’t know better, who didn’t realize how cruelly the world would see her. No matter what she does now, she can’t shake the slut label. Over the years she’s learned to own it. She starts referring to her crotch as “the Hunter” and playing along with everyone’s notions of her. It’s easier to play the part, to do the expected thing. 

It doesn’t make Aubrey’s rejection hurt any less. 

But if Aubrey wants to be friends, Stacie can do friends. She can choke down her burgeoning feelings and be Aubrey’s friend. 

——

They fall into a rhythm. On Tuesdays and Thursdays Stacie gets home early and cooks them dinner. On Mondays and Wednesdays Aubrey grabs take out for dinner. Fridays are their public date nights for the sake of appearances. Their weekends are their own although slowly, they’re spending more and more of them together. 

They don’t talk much. They mostly read side by side, but it’s an unexpectedly comfortable way to spend time near each other.

Stacie’s so used to their routine that she’s not really sure how to respond when she comes home to a redhead hanging all over Aubrey. 

“Hi.”

“You’re Stacie.”

“Yeah. And you’re Chloe Beale.”

“Chloe is one of my closest friends.” Aubrey cuts in.

“Your only close friend,” Chloe corrects with a grin and Stacie can’t help but laugh.

Aubrey glares at both of them before she turns to Stacie with a softer look in her eyes.

“Your dinner’s on the counter.”

“Thanks.”

Stacie walks around the corner and into the kitchen. Aubrey calls out to her,

“Can you bring the tequila out here with you?”

Stacie reemerges a few seconds later, holding the take out container with her dinner in one hand and the handle of tequila in the other. Chloe eagerly snatches the tequila from Stacie’s hand.

“Ooooh. You sprung for the really nice stuff.”

Chloe says, staring at the label for a long moment before she uncorks the handle and tips it back. She doesn’t even react as she swallows. She hands off the handle to Aubrey. Aubrey grabs a shot glass from the living room table and carefully pours a shot. She takes a ginger sip from the shot before tilting her head back and swallowing the rest in one go. 

Stacie does her best not to stare at the long column of Aubrey’s neck. Judging by Chloe’s amused smirk, Stacie’s not doing a great job of hiding it though. Stacie quickly looks away and concentrates on eating her dinner.

“You should join us Stacie.”

“Oh. No. I’ll let you and Aubrey hang out.”

“Come on. I’m inviting you to hang out with us.”

Chloe is grinning with a gleam in her eye. Stacie looks towards Aubrey who barely nods. Stacie takes a deep breath and agrees, “fine.”

Chloe hands her the tequila almost immediately and Stacie hopes she doesn’t regret this night. 

——

All in all, for a night on tequila it is tame. Chloe blasts her playlist of 90’s boy bands and they mimic as many of the dance moves as they remember. At some point they take turn competing as the lead singer in Rockband. Aubrey wins if only because she doesn’t dance and therefore stays in tune for the entire song.

Chloe is the first to succumb to the alcohol. She’s always been a lightweight compared to Aubrey. 

They carefully deposit Chloe in Aubrey’s bed. Chloe doesn’t even stir when they pull the comforter over her. Just as quietly, they quietly move back into the living room.

The tequila has faded to a pleasant buzz and Stacie actually relaxes next to Aubrey when they slump onto the couch. They’re sitting close, but not touching. Aubrey can feel Stacie’s body heat next to her. She resists the urge to get closer and curl into Stacie’s side. 

“Did you ever want to get married?”

Stacie’s sudden question jolts Aubrey from her thoughts of cuddling. It takes her a second to process Stacie’s question.

“I never fantasized about it,” Aubrey admits. “But I guess I always wanted to go home to someone I loved.” 

Stacie nods but says nothing

“Did you ever want to get married?”

Stacie doesn’t move, doesn’t say anything for a few seconds. Aubrey’s worried she’s fallen asleep and she’s about to look over when Stacie breaks her silence.

“I always thought that if I met someone my parents would call all of this off.”

It’s not really an answer to the question but if anything it tells Aubrey even more about Stacie.

“Did you meet someone?” 

“In California.”

Stacie’s playing with the zipper on her hoodie. Aubrey watches as Stacie’s hands jerk the zipper up and down. 

“What happened?”

“My dad got to her, paid off all her school loans so that she would dump me. It worked like a charm,” Stacie says with a watery smile. 

Aubrey has no idea what to say. Her father may have never been warm and may have had high expectations for her but he’d never knowingly destroy a chance for her to be happy. For all his bad qualities, the general is honorable. He would tell Aubrey to her face to break it off.

Stacie shakes her head and then wipes her cheeks with the back of her hands.

“I thought things would be so different,” Stacie admits quietly.

Unsure of what else to do or the right words to say, Aubrey reaches for Stacie’s hand and laces their fingers together. She squeezes Stacie’s hand twice just to let her know that she’s _there_. Stacie squeezes back. They sit on the couch holding hands and don’t let go even after they’ve both fallen asleep and Aubrey’s slumped onto Stacie’s shoulder.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think -> [snowtamale.tumblr.com](http://snowtamale.tumblr.com/)


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